Meet the new North Andover High School Athletic Director Scott Young

Friday

Jul 11, 2014 at 6:50 PMJul 11, 2014 at 6:50 PM

By Joe McConnelljmcconnell@wickedlocal.com

Scott Young has begun his new assignment at North Andover High School as its new athletic director, replacing Jon Longley, who has since accepted a similar position at Norwood High School.Young knows the Merrimack Valley. He attended Central Catholic, taught and coached at Shawsheen Tech and Greater Lawrence Regional, and was also a swimming coach at his alma mater. He has been at North Andover since 2002 as an administrator and coach.His official title is Assistant Principal for Athletics, and he canít wait for the grind of another school year to begin in September. But in the meantime, Young had a chance to answer the following questions posed by the North Andover Citizen about his thoughts on taking over a program that has enjoyed much success over the years.Could you detail your educational and athletic experiences dating back to your high school days, including your jobs in those related fields?Throughout high school at Central Catholic, I swam, played soccer and summer baseball. I swam competitively at Duquesne University. I spent a few years as the head swim coach at the Salem, N.H. Boys and Girls Club. I coached various youth baseball teams in Salem. I served as the assistant swim coach at Shawsheen Tech. I also coach JV soccer there. I served as the JV softball coach at Greater Lawrence Technical High School. I served as the head swim and diving coach at Central Catholic, where I also coached one year of JV soccer.Educational Experience: Special Education Department at Shawsheen Tech (1997-98); Math/Science teacher at Greater Lawrence (1998-2002); Math Teacher/Department Head/Interim Assistant Principal at North Andover High School (2002-present).At North Andover, I have served as freshman softball and JV baseball coach. I have also worked as a site administrator at numerous events.I have umpired baseball since 1997, and am currently the president of the Greater Lawrence Baseball Umpires Association. I have also officiated football since 2007.What attracted you to the North Andover position?The community, first and foremost, which includes the staff, students and parents. They have all been great since Day 1.North Andover is what it is, because of the people here. The shared vision of providing a great educational and athletic experience for kids makes it a great place to work.The athletic program is top notch, and it includes some great kids and skilled coaches that are committed to continuing past successes.This new opportunity allows me to combine my academic, athletic, and life experiences.Jon [Longley, the previous athletic director] has done a great job positioning the program for continued success. With first class facilities, great coaches and a supportive community; North Andover athletics can only continue to grow.Whatís your philosophy as a head of a department, and do you expect to implement some of your ideas within the current state of the athletic department?As with any position in education, the Assistant Principal for Athletics is here to support kids and coaches.As a leader, I have learned to facilitate conversations, and move away from "Whatís wrong?" to "What would be better?"Prior to serving as interim assistant principal, I had served as the math department head. During that time, I had the pleasure of working with a great team of teachers, including Coach Rasanen, Long, Daley, Flanagan, and Ratte. They were committed to providing the best opportunities for our students.The department head positions mirrored this one in that upon entry things were already good.The team in place wants not only to continue the good things that were happening, but also make them better. This is the mantra that all of our coaches have expressed so far.As far as my own ideas, I have many. I would like to implement them over time, but for the time being they will all circulate around the idea of including more people in the process.Thankfully, the program is not in need of big changes, instead simply a few enhancements. I hope to help coaches continue to work with the youth sports in town, increase faculty and student support in athletics and help coaches continually grow and improve their programs.Have you had a chance to talk to the coaches and/or student-athletes as of yet, and if not what would you try and convey to them?I have met with all of the fall coaches about the upcoming season already, and will be moving on to the winter and spring very soon.We have shared philosophy, needs and goals. Having been a part of the school community, I have informally spoken to lots of students. To a person, both kids and coaches are excited and proud of the program, and all are willing to work hard in continuing the excellence. The big message is that I am here to support them and help them achieve their goals.What will some of your duties as a vice principal be, and the challenge it creates in your dual role as the athletic director?As an assistant principal, my role will be reduced in comparison to the responsibilities that I held as interim assistant principal. I will work with the sophomores, and provide support to he Wellness and Fine Arts Departments.While serving two roles is challenging, it also provides an opportunity to make the athletic experience at North Andover truly co-curricular.What do you think will be the toughest part of the job, and at the same time the most enjoyable?The toughest part of the job will be achieving balance in academics, athletics and family.The most enjoyable will be blending those aspects together, and of course continuing to work with some great people.Everyone raves about our facilities, but it is really the people here that make it the great place that it is.